Jan. 29, 2009

Timeout with Mercier

Camper for Hobey Baker

Highlights vs. UNO

Complete Release in PDF Format

OXFORD, Ohio - The RedHawks return to Steve Cady Arena this weekend to take on the Bowling Green Falcons for the first time this season. Both games this weekend will be televised on the Ohio News Network with the game on Friday starting at 7:35 p.m. and Saturday’s game beginning at 7:05 p.m.

Both games will also be radio streamed on www.MURedHawks.com and Saturday’s contest with the Falcons will be aired on WMOH (1450 AM). All the action will be called by Greg Waddell of the ISP Sports Network. 

“CHECKING” BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons enter the weekend with 13 points in the CCHA standings and in 11th place in the league. Bowling Green holds an overall record of 9-14-3 and conference mark of 6-11-1-0. The Falcons, Ferris State and Michigan are the only schools in the conference yet to record a CCHA shootout win. The road has been rough for Bowling Green as it holds a record of 2-6-1 in road games this season but both of its wins have come in conference. The Falcons have won two of their last four games including a shutout win over No. 8 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dan Sexton leads the Falcons in goals, assists and points (12-18-30). Sexton is fourth in CCHA trailing Aaron Palushaj, Louie Caporusso of Michigan and conference scoring leader Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio). The Falcons enter the weekend eighth in the CCHA in team offense and 12th in team defense, having allowed a conference high 86 goals this season. Bowling Green is coming a off a weekend split with Lake Superior in Bowling Green with the Falcons taking game one 4-3 and the Lakers grabbing game two by a 8-4 score.  

Miami holds an all-time record of 34-58-7 with the RedHawks trailing in games held in Oxford by a mark of 22-24-2. The Red and White have controlled the series lately winning 10 of the last 11 games and the previous three consecutively. Miami has not lost to bowling at home in the regular season since Feb. 12, 2000.

THE REDHAWK RUNDOWN
- The RedHawk icers will wear stickers on their helmets starting this weekend to commemorate Miami’s 200th anniversary.    

- Miami’s senior class needs two more wins to surpass last season senior as the class with the most wins in school history. The 2007-08 senior class posted 98 wins in their four seasons in the Red and White.

- The match up this weekend between the Falcons and the RedHawks will feature three of the Top 5 scorers in the CCHA. Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.) ranks fifth in the league with 28 points (11-17-28). Dan Sexton of Bowling Green is fourth in the conference with 30 points (12-18-30) and Miami sophomore Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) leads the conference in scoring with 32 points (16-16-32).

- Justin Mercier (Erie, Pa.) is only three points away from becoming the 42nd member of Miami’s100-point club. Mercier has 46 career goals and 41 assists. In 11 career games against BGSU, Mercier has four points (3-1-4) and a +3 mark.

- In Mercier’s career, Miami holds a record of 57-9-5 when the Erie, Pa. native records a point and a 38-3-1 mark when he scores a goal.

- Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) leads the CCHA in points with 30 (16-16-32) his point total ranks him tied for sixth nationally.  

- Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.) leads the RedHawks in game tying goals with four. No other RedHawk has more than one.

- Connor Knapp (York, N.Y.) ranks 10th in the nation in goals-against average. Knapp has one shutout this season and has posted 20 saves in eight of 14 starts including a team high 33 saves against Nebraska-Omaha on Jan. 23.

- In Miami’s second game against Nebraska-Omaha on Jan. 24, the RedHawks and the Mavericks skated in front of 10,111 fans which is the most highly attended RedHawk regular season game since Nov. 30, 2001 when 14,747 came to Columbus to Miami take on Ohio State.   

- In his first 78 games with the Red and White, Gary Steffes (Grand Blanc, Mich.) scored 11 goals in his last 26 he has found the net eight times.

- Camper, Steffes, Mercier and Tommy Wingels (Wilmette, Ill.) all have at least four second period goals this season. Camper leads the team in second frame scores with six.  
 
GOING CAMPING – CCHA PLAYER OF THE MONTH - HOBEY BAKER CANIDATE
Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) leads the team in points with 30 (14-16-30) that ranks him tied for sixth nationally in points. Camper also leads Miami in goals (16), power-play goals (9) and is second on the team in assists (16) and is tied for the squad lead in game-winning goals (2). Camper leads the CCHA in points, ranks tied for fourth in power play goals, is tied for second in goals and is fifth in assists.  Camper is third in the nation in goals and tied for second nationally in power play goals. The native of Rocky River, Ohio is averaging 1.28 points per-game, which is the best career points-per-game average by any player under Enrico Blasi.

Camper picked up CCHA Player of the Month honors with his performance on the ice in the month of December. The sophomore racked up 10 points in the month, which led the nation, including four goals and six assists. The Rocky River, Ohio native also picked up his first career hat trick on Dec. 7 against Western Michigan. The three goals were a career high for Camper but he was not finished setting career-high watermarks as a week later he passed out four assists against RPI. Camper set a new career high in points in the Western Michigan game with a four-point night and then matched it Dec. 14 against RPI.

Miami has also named Camper as its Hobey Baker Memorial Trophy candidate. Camper is currently tied for sixth in the nation in points, leads the CCHA in points and is second in the conference in power-play points. Over the past two seasons Camper leads the nation in points per game with 1.28.

Tommy Wingels

WING MAN
Tommy Wingels (Wilmette, Ill.) has racked up seven goals and nine assists this season. Wingels is tied with Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio), Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.) and Jarod Palmer (Fridley, Minn.) for the team lead in game-winning goals with two. During the RedHawks eight-game winning streak (Nov. 14 – Dec. 14), Wingels picked up both his game-winners and 13 points. Wingels set a career high with four points in a game on Dec. 14 against RPI as he netted two goals and passed out two assists. 

JUST”IN” TIME
JUSTIN MERICER (Erie, Pa.) is only three points from becoming the 42nd member of the 100-point club at Miami University. Last season, three players reached the 100-point plateau (Ryan Jones, Nathan Davis and Mitch Ganzak). Mercier has eight goals and 14 assists this season with six points (1-5-6) in his last four games.

“WIDE” MARGIN
Chris Wideman (St. Louis, Mo.) continues to rack up assists this season and is currently tied for fifth in the CCHA in assist scoring and is the league’s top freshman.  Wideman is also tied with Billy Maday of Notre Dame for the most points by a CCHA freshman on the power play. The St. Louis, Mo. native is sixth in the conference in defenseman scoring and is the top freshman scorer in the defensive pairings. Wideman is second in the nation in scoring by a freshman defenseman and first in the CCHA.

THE BIG ONE TWO
Gary Steffes (Grand Blanc, Mich.) has been one of the biggest offensive surprises in the CCHA this season. Steffes entered the season with 11 career goals, 24 career points in 78 career games. This season has been a completely different story as the Grand Blanc, Mich. native has racked up eight goal (a career-high for goals in a season) and 15 points in 24 games. Steffes got things going early in the season with a “hat trick” in the second game of the season against Ohio State. The Red and White have solid success when Steffes is able to find the net as the RedHawks hold a record of 14-1-1 mark all-time when he scores.

REDHAWK SPECIAL TEAMS
The RedHawk special teams units are currently rated as the best in the CCHA. Miami leads the conference and is second in the nation on the penalty kill with a unit that kills off 90.7-percent (136/150) of power plays for opposing teams. The RedHawks also have a solid power-play unit that is currently ranked third in the CCHA with an 18.9-percent (28/148) success rate. Miami has two of the Top 3 power play point-scorers in the CCHA this season in Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) and Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.).Camper is second in the conference with 16 points (7-9-16) with the man advantage and Cannone is third with 14 (4-10-14).  This season, Miami is 8-5-2 when it scores on the power play, 8-4-0 when they are perfect on the penalty kill and 6-2-0 when they do both in the same game.

Enrico Blasi

BLASI GRABS 200TH WIN
With his 13th win in 2008-09, head coach Enrico Blasi hit the 200-win mark. Miami earned its 200th victory under Blasi with a 6-1 victory over Michigan State on Jan. 17. It was Gary Steffes (Grand Blanc, Mich.) that scored the game-winning goal and earned win number 200 for Blasi. Entering this season, Blasi ranked 95 in winning percentage in college hockey history. Over the past four seasons no coach has won more games or posted a higher winning percentage than Blasi. He holds the most wins and the highest winning percentage in school history. 
                                                                                                     
IN THE RANKINGS
Miami is currently ranked 10th in the USCHO and CBS College Sports Division I men’s hockey poll. The RedHawks have moved up and down in the Top 10 this season but have been ranked within the nation’s Top 10 for 40 consecutive weeks. During this run, the RedHawks have been ranked as the nation’s No. 1 team for ten weeks. Miami has also been ranked in the Top 10 for 75 of the last 83 weeks and has been ranked No. 1 11 times. This season, Miami has played 10 games against ranked opponents and holds an overall record of 6-3-1 with a 2-3-1 mark on the road.

Chris Wideman

LAST TIME OUT – JAN. 24 VS. NEBRASKA-OMAHA
No. 10 Miami (14-8-4) used its special teams play to earn a 6-1 victory over Nebraska-Omaha (13-9-5) in the Quest Center.

Miami scored four times on 12 power plays and killed off seven Maverick power play attempts to earn its second victory in its last three games. The RedHawks are now in second place by themselves in the CCHA thanks to the win and a shootout loss by Alaska against Northern Michigan.

The RedHawks got things going early as they earned a power play and Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) capitalized. Chris Wideman (St. Louis, Mo.) worked the puck from the blue line down to Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.) who fired a shot on net that was saved by Maverick goalie Jerad Kaufman but the UNO senior was unable to control the rebound and it was Camper that slammed the puck into the net. The power play unit was far from finished as Cannone would find the net at 12:06. Jarod Palmer (Fridley, Minn.) dug the puck out from behind the RedHawk net and passed it up to Wideman. Wideman brought the puck into Maverick zone and passed the puck to Cannone who fired a shot past Kaufman.

Miami extended the lead to three when Will Weber (Gaylord, Mich.) struck following a faceoff. Andy Miele (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) won the faceoff sending it back to Weber and he fired a shot beating Kaufman glove side at 14:03 of the period. The shot would be the last one seen by Jerad Kaufman of Nebraska-Omaha. Kaufman was pulled in favor of Friday night starter Jeremine Dupont.

Connor Knapp (York, N.Y.) stopped all five shots he faced in the first period as Miami went 2-of-5 on the power play and 2-of-2 on the penalty kill.  

Camper and the power play unit kept things going in the second period as the sophomore from Rocky River, Ohio found the net at 12:20 of the second frame. Palmer picked up the puck from behind the net and passed it up ice to Justin Mercier (Erie, Pa.). Mercier fired a shot on net that was tipped in the slot by Camper into the net.

Knapp picked up three more saves in the period and the Red and White went 1-of-3 on the power play and 3-of-3 on the penalty kill.

The RedHawks kept the heat on in the third period as Cannone scored his second goal of the night at 4:14 of the third period. Palmer and Mercier grabbed the assists. The final goal for the Red and White came at 14:39 of the frame when Brandon Smith (Pepper Pike, Ohio) tipped in a shot from Vincent LoVerde (Chicago, Ill.). Trent Vogelhuber (Dublin, Ohio) was credited with the second assist.  Matt Ambroz scored a power play goal at 16:48 of the third period to close scoring in the game.

Knapp finished the game with 19 saves and the RedHawks special teams units went 4-of-12 on the power play and 7-of-8 on the penalty kill.

Miami RedHawk Hockey Game Notes
Nebraska-Omaha, 1 (13-9-5/8-7-5-3 CCHA) at #10 Miami, 6 (14-8-4, 12-5-3-1 CCHA)
Jan.  24, 2009 • Quest Center • Attendance 10,111

• Miami holds a record of 3-0 following shootout losses this season. The RedHawks also posted a 7-3 win against Ohio State following a shootout loss the night before. The Red and White also earned a 2-0 victory over Notre Dame after coming up short in a shootout against Vermont six days earlier.

• The crowd of 10,111 is the largest the RedHawks have played in front of all season.

• With a goal on Saturday night, Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) has never been gone back-to-back games against a CCHA opponent without a point. 

• Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.) picked up three points on the night with two goals and one assist.

• Brandon Smith (Pepper Pike, Ohio) picked up the second goal of his career with a tip in at 14:39 of the third period.

• The Miami penalty kill unit went 7-of-8 on the night and 17-of-18 on the weekend.

• Raymond Eichenlaub (Wilmette, Ill.) missed his first game of the season on Saturday night and was absent from the defensive pairings for the first time since Jan. 12, 2008 against Nebraska'-Omaha.

• Brian Kaufman (Shoreview, Minn.) and Mike Phillippi of Nebraska-Omaha are both from Shoreview Minn.

• First Star: Pat Cannone Second Start: Carter Camper Third Star: Jarod Palmer (Fridley, Minn.)

IS THERE A DRAFT IN HERE?
Freshmen Trent Vogelhuber and Will Weber are both draft choices of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Weber was chosen in the second-round of the 2007 NHL draft by the Jackets. Vogelhuber, a native of Dublin, Ohio, was taken in the same draft, in the seventh-round. Vogelhuber called being drafted by his favorite team “a dream come true.” Weber and Vogelhuber join three other RedHawks, who have been picked in the NHL draft. Justin Mercier was picked by the Colorado Avalanche in 2005. Justin Vaive was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and just this past off season Tommy Wingels was picked by the San Jose Sharks.   
  
NEXT UP
The RedHawk have an off week next weekend and then Miami hit the road for it final full regular season road trip against Lake Superior State on Feb. 13-14.